LITT Academic Libraries

LITT: Academic Libraries

The library is the heart of any academic institution. Connect with others who work in Idaho’s colleges and universities in this LITT and share your experiences and perspective with your peers in other academic libraries.

The LITT: Academic Libraries listserv is a great way to stay connected. This listserv is co-sponsored by the Network of Idaho Academic Libraries (NIAL). Check out our listserv guidelines before posting.

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Our next LITT: Academic Libraries chat will be held July 27.

Notes from Past LITT: Academic Library Community

  • Conferences attended, planning to attend, or hoping to present at:
  • All participants in the call noted limited or no travel funding available this upcoming fiscal year for professional development. One newer tenure-track librarian is using start-up funding for this kind of travel
  • All participants discussed a difficulty in fully participating with virtual conferences. Despite the low cost and relative convenience of virtual conferences, it can be hard to attend live sessions with competing real-life obligations. Additionally, it is easier to lose focus. Shorter events (a few hours a day) seem to work better than an all-day virtual conference.
  • A digital accessibility project has proved more difficult than expected, and thanks to an extended deadline for full implementation this work will continue over the summer.
  • LCSC Library switched ILS platforms from Alma to Folio this year. Overall it is easier to use, but it has been challenging at times to import records from Alma.
  • BSU Albertsons Library is planning to switch ILS platforms to Folio, too.
  • There will be a new position opening up in the UI Law Library with a focus on digital resources.
  • Generally, there are more digital items than physical items in academic library collections. This aligns with data from The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2024 Annual Survey.
    • Nationally, about 20% of an academic library’s collection are physical items while 80% are digital. Associate’s Colleges had the largest proportion of digital items (96%) in their collection, but also reported the lowest rate of circulation of digital materials. Doctoral Universities had the lowest proportion of digital items (59%) and the highest rate of circulation of those digital materials.
  • Limited/lack of funding this year has really limited collection development.
  • BSU Albertsons Library this summer will be merging their successful Research & Critical Inquiry micro-course with an existing micro-course on AI use. This course is online, asynchronous, and requires students to submit a paper assignment that is reviewed by librarians before they can pass the course. They can tell when students submit a paper that is written by AI, and will ask the student to rewrite it.
  • About AI:
    • An AI agent named Einstein has claimed it can complete any work in a Canvas course entirely on its own, promising to do the busywork so you don’t have to. While this specific tool appears to no longer be available, the capabilities of it are not necessarily novel and could easily be replicated. As one technologist wrote, “the commercial product may be gone, but the underlying technology is open-source, well-documented, and within the reach of any reasonably skilled student willing to spend an afternoon setting it up.”
    • Canvas created its own AI agent, which claimed the ability to save faculty time on “low-value tasks” like creating rubrics, aligning content, and discussion reviews. Additionally, it has designed this tool in a way that prevents instructors from fully automating grading.
    • How do you combat this kind of AI use as an educator?
    • Asking an AI tool to complete your courses for you is like asking a robot to go to the gym for you.
    • Participants discussed their own use of generative AI: to draft their annual review, to anonymize a written review of a supervisor, to draft responses to grant applications.
    • In the legal field, generative AI was imagined as a way to improve the ability of litigants to represent themselves. However, the best tools for this kind of AI support cost a significant amount of money so are likely still out of reach of most self-represented litigants.
    • Judges have reprimanded attorneys for using generative AI, which becomes a great example to use when teaching students in the College of Law.
    • The more expertise a person has on a topic (such as legal research, engineering, coding, etc.), the more likely they are to successfully use an AI tool to support their work – because they know what to look for, how to assess the accuracy of what’s generated, and to verify their findings. The less expertise a person has on a topic, the more likely they are to take what generative AI provides for them as “good enough,” without identifying the inaccuracies and limitations built-in to the tool itself.
    • Imagined/fake sources are still common. The tools are getting better, but still make mistakes all the time. A year or two ago, sometimes faculty assumed it was the library’s fault for not having a source in their collection or not being able to find a source that was generated by AI, but now they seem to have more awareness of the likelihood of a made up source being generated by AI.
    • Wondering about jobs/workplaces where AI use is encouraged or mandated (such as a requirement that 10% of your work should be done with AI) vs. jobs/workplaces where AI use is discouraged or allowed only in certain instances.
    • Recommended resource: Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines? How to thrive in a ChatGPT world. Developed by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West.

  • Generative AI
    • AI literacy is starting to be embedded in some First Year Experience classes
    • Students have a mixed reaction to generative AI – some already use it and find it helpful, while others are opposed to any AI use for ethical reasons
    • One librarian had great success using ChatGPT to generate Python code
    • The ICfL is hosting a webinar Thursday, January 27 on Copyright and Generative AI
  • The UI Library is embarking on a huge weeding project, mostly focused on serials
  • Don’t miss the Orbis Cascade Alliance’s Accessibility Speaker Series – sessions are free and open to all who work at academic libraries in Idaho

  • Impacts of budget cuts
    • Some are analyzing usage statistics for current journal and database subscriptions, using a standard metric to determine which to cut
    • Some are focusing on not purchasing new items
    • Some are taking a hard look at standard order purchases – items the library has been collecting for years but just aren’t getting used as much as they used to – pointing to the changing way in which students interact with library materials
    • Sometimes students or faculty will be angry at the library for cutting a journal or database they relied on or feel is essential in their discipline
    • Seeing a reduction in mental health support staff for students
    • Enrollment is up at all public colleges & universities in the state, yet there’s less funding available to support each student
  • LCSC moves forward with proposed name change to Lewis-Clark State University
    • Has been approved by the State Board of Education, next step is to be approved by the Legislature and the Governor
  • Baker & Taylor shutting down has little to no direct impact on academic libraries, unlike public libraries. However, we may see additional vendors in this space struggling to keep up with increased demand as they take on B&T’s former customers.
  • Trend – food pantries in library or on campus
    • LCSC has a food pantry in the library, run by Student Success. Space includes a freezer and fridge. Users can “browse the shelves” to shop for food.
    • UI has a food pantry in the student union building, run by Student Services.
  • Trend – shifting away from library-only use collections to circulating collections
  • Ideas to get more people physically in the library – invest in a large skeleton students can use as a study aid in groups. Can these skeletons be 3D printed?
    • Other tangible, practical study aids could also be a benefit.
    • Snacks!
  • The ISU Idaho Falls Library will be hosting the PBS Books American Revolution Film in February
  • The LCSC Library is getting new carpet installed over winter break!

  • For many it is the first week of classes, and all colleges and universities on the call are reporting an increase in enrollment this year
  • At the BSU Albertsons Library, they offer an online, asynchronous Research & Critical Inquiry micro-course that covers information literacy, an introduction to the library, plus generative AI literacy, and lateral reading. This online version frees up librarians to work with faculty in higher-level or more subject specific courses. A final assignment in the micro-course is graded by library faculty – they saw over 2,000 learners in this program last fall and are anticipating even more this year.
    • Curious about the impact of the shift of this instruction from in-person to online, faculty at the library will be embarking on a research project starting this year.
  • At LCSC, the library hosts several popular events for students throughout the year, including:
    • Game nights – hosted in collaboration with humanities professors, library provides space, snacks, and drinks
    • Mid-semester waffle feeds – other departments contribute funds, library collaborates with admissions & retention departments, and the library invites student-support services to be present in booths to share information and resources with students on-site
    • Dead week snack cart – other departments contribute funds
  • LCSC has also migrated to a new ILS! They moved from ALMA to Folio
  • BSU Albertsons Library hosts a popular FAFSA & Fur event in the spring, bringing in dogs for emotional support during a stressful time
  • General discussion about budget holdbacks
    • For many this means looking rigorously at the resources the library provides, especially databases
    • Deans of Idaho’s academic libraries collaborated on a letter to the State Board of Education addressing and explaining the dramatic impacts of the yearly increases in costs for database subscriptions, how these ever-increasing costs without a proportional increase in funding for the libraries inevitably leads to cuts that will negatively impact students, faculty, and the institutional missions of these educational organizations
    • The most difficult aspect at the moment is communication and managing the uncertainty
  • General discussion about shift from tech-focus to more analog resources
    • Bluebooks are back!
    • At a university makerspace, they’ve found that it is the low-tech, high-touch workshops that are the most popular among students
    • One attendee has two teens, and reports they have a dramatically different view of technology than many of us did, not interested in social media at all, prefer physical books to ebooks.
    • DVD collections are VERY popular in many public libraries!
    • As information experts we understood that the information on the internet was ephemeral, but now others are beginning to understand it as well – content is being lost online. Websites can disappear overnight. Media that was only available for streaming is no longer available at all.
      • There’s loss in each transition from one medium to another – some movies never made the transition from VHS to DVD, for example.
    • One university library in the midwest built two new buildings just to house print journals because they didn’t trust online databases to provide reliable/permanent access – these print journals weren’t publicly available, but served as a kind of archive
  • Related recommended reading/resources:

Topic: building relationships with faculty, finding library champions

  • Focus on building relationships with faculty, getting to know them as people first without mentioning library services.
    • Joining faculty committees can be a great way to build relationships.
    • Approach conversations with faculty with a “just listening” mindset, avoid jumping to solutions.
    • Some departments don’t need or use the library as much as others, and that’s okay, but there may be other ways to connect with them – like social events, lectures, workshops, etc.
    • Sit in on department meetings to build relationships. The value is in being present, getting to know the faculty members.
  • One positive collaboration with a faculty member can be a launching point for future connections – ask them to provide a testimonial that can speak to your value, or ask them for advice on how to approach other faculty for future collaborations.
  • Who are the library champions? These folks spread the word about the library, creating a network of support.
    • ILL super users
    • Faculty who regularly make purchase requests and bring their students to the library
    • Faculty who use the library’s board game collection in classes, host board game events in the library
    • Faculty who push the snack cart around the library during dead week
  • Ideas:
    • Make a zine to share information about the library – there’s novelty in this new format and is more likely to be kept as a handy resource than an email. (Example zine provided by ISU-Idaho Falls Librarian Aeryle Kuehn is attached)
    • Make the library a faculty common space.
    • Host a faculty meetup at the library.
    • Have library swag to distribute – those bearing gifts are often better received.
    • Create a monthly reading challenge with faculty, with prizes for those that complete it.
    • Host a themed book club – participants select a book related to a provided theme or category.
    • Use a whiteboard to collect faculty recommended reads.
    • Host regular library trivia events at the library with handmade trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
    • Participate in new faculty orientation.
  • Existing models of connecting with faculty
    • Some academic libraries use a subject/department liaison model. This can be challenging as subjects, departments, and majors get reorganized, created, or merged.
    • Others also have functional liaisons, who focus on providing specialized assistance to faculty (such as with databases, citation management, GIS, etc.) – these liaisons can have a stronger relationship with faculty with better long-term relationships because the practical need creates an easier way to connect.
    • Another library is interested in a personal librarian model – focused on students with unique needs and backgrounds, providing relational support rather than transactional support. The University of Wyoming had success using this model in part because they have a large transfer student population.
  • Success story:
    • The College of Southern Idaho Library had many unused periodicals and magazines, and those have now been outsourced to reside in related departments. Library staff deliver new issues of the magazines as they come in, allowing for more socializing outside of the library and relationship building with faculty. This initiative has been very popular, leading to requests for new titles to add to the periodical collection, and interest in the magazines spreading by word of mouth. Although there are no circ stats for these magazines, anecdotal and observational evidence shows a dramatic increase in their use now that they are outside of the library.

Discussion topic: outreach

  • How to do this important work with limited budget and/or resources? Where to start?
    • Partnering with existing groups on-campus – campus activities board, regular campus events, club or student group activities
    • BSU Albertsons Library recently created a new position focused on community engagement & outreach, connecting this position to the university’s broader goals and language in its strategic plan
    • Just getting out into the community – being seen and being known
    • Going to where the students already are – instead of waiting for students to approach with a question, create opportunities for engagement and interaction
    • Create an environment where the students feel the library is a place for them to use
    • Consider the needs of the target audience (students)
      • Partnering with student wellness group to bring in therapy dogs during finals week
      • Partnering with other campus groups to bring in chair massages for students during finals week
      • Creating a space and/or resources for non-traditional students using the library with their young kids
    • Start with a big idea or goal to work towards, then find a small step you can work on now that serves as a proof of concept, a way to demonstrate usefulness and need before investing large amounts of resources
    • Workshops – bringing students in to work on an activity, connect that activity or idea to the library’s collections and/or resources
  • How do you reach off-campus students? How do they get access to physical materials?
    • CWI, BSU, and UI all mail physical materials to their off-campus students at no cost to the students
    • CWI emphasizes the option of electronic materials where appropriate
  • How to communicate information about the library to students and faculty?
    • Issue where students think they have to pay to access library resources – important to contradict this belief with reliable information about library services
    • Keeping your website up to date, sharing information on social media, creating funny videos that also provide useful information, also low tech options like a rolling whiteboard or pamphlets
    • Disconnect between expectations vs. reality – how to address?
      • Tour video – can assuage fears for first-time users
    • Reaching out to new faculty can be very helpful in establishing quality relationships with the library, sharing information
  • Things to consider:
    • First year students also include transfer students
    • “Bring people into the library by getting out of the library.”
    • The importance of creating a positive first impression of the library for new students
    • Class assignments/activities with the library should be relevant, useful, meaningful – if a student feels it is busy work they may be more likely to come away with a negative first impression of the library

  • Meaningful metrics
    • How do we demonstrate value?
    • What do you mean by value?
    • How can we make data collection better to tell our story better?
    • Gathering stories/testimonials after reference transactions
  • Using VR in the library for the first time, what considerations and/or best practices are there?
  • What to post on social media when there’s no events?
    • Cool book covers
    • Quote of the day
    • Learn from other social media people on campus
    • Convergence of informational / educational / fun
    • Featuring people that work in the library
    • Pay attention to what’s trending – TikTok for example
    • Pay attention to what you like about other library social media accounts
    • Liking, commenting, interacting with other library accounts to boost engagement and community

  • Houseplants in the library
  • Shortage of student employees, lots of students and staff out sick or quarantined
  • Becoming challenging to confront students about mask compliance in the library
  • Increase in difficult situations with regards to mask compliance in the library
  • How to handle interim leadership positions at an institution
  • All libraries should have a collection development policy with a challenge/reconsideration section (more information here)

Thanks to everyone who attended today’s LITT: Academic Library Community chat on supporting remote/virtual students. We had a great discussion about the various ways our libraries supports virtual students. Here are some of the trends/ideas/projects we discussed:

  • An increase in on-demand services – do our students know to demand it?
  • Proactive chat and global chat increases engagement in chat reference
  • Sharing blog posts in Moodle
  • An increase in demand driven acquisitions
  • Lockers at the library for students to retrieve their materials
  • Low turnout for zoom events
  • Very successful passive programming
  • Grab and go de-stress kits very popular with students
  • Going from 10 to 150 laptops available for checkout
  • Allowing textbook checkouts for up to 1 week
  • Looking into controlled digital lending (CDL)
  • Added a request to digitize into library catalog – request goes to ILL to manage
  • Very successful board game collection – buying games from a local shop

Questions or comments about LITT: Academic Libraries chats? Contact Annie.

Check out our Academic Libraries Services & Consulting page

LITT EVENTS

LITT: Marketing – Templates and Brand Kits

May 14, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm MDT

LITT: Library Lifelines – Digital Skills

May 21, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT

LITT: Latine – Communicating Event/Patron Safety

May 27, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm MDT

LITT: Library Lifelines – Genealogy

June 18, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT

LITT: Library Lifelines – Finding Grants and Funding

July 16, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT

LITT: Academic Libraries

July 27, 10:00 am - 11:00 am MDT

LITT: Library Lifelines – Applying for Grants and Fundraising

August 20, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT

LITT: Library Lifelines – Idaho Library Highlights

September 17, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT

Annie Gaines

CE Consultant
Email Annie / 208-639-4151
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